Adjustable socket spanner



- N. H. PERssoN ADJUSTABLE SOCKET SEANNER Filed Aug. 23, 155

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June 25, 1957 United States Patent O ADJUSTABLE SOCKET SPANNER Nils Hugo Persson, Malmo, Sweden Application August 23, 1955, Serial No. 530,143

Claims priority, application Sweden May 18, 1955 2 Claims. (Cl. 81-128) This invention generally relates to socket spanners and more particularly to adjustable socket spanners of the previously known type comprising a shank having at one end an operating handle and at the opposite end a socket for gripping nuts and the like, this socket including a relatively stationary jaw and, transversely displaceably mounted thereon, a relatively movable jaw, the relatively movable jaw being, for altering the opening of the jaws, operable by an adjustment device associated with the operating handle of the Spanner.

The invention has for its object to provide a socket Spanner of the kind indicated which is improved as to its rigidity and simplified in its design in comparison with previously known constructions.

For the object stated, according to the invention, a socket Spanner of the kind specified is mainly characterized in that the shank 'has a bore extending axially therethrough and having longitudinally displaceably but nonrotatably mounted therein a connecting rod which is longitudinally movable in said bore by an adjustment member associated with the handle and operably connected with the rear end of said rod, the front end of said rod being, in a manner known per se, connected with the relatively movable jaw by a sliding element in engagement with cooperating inclined guide surfaces on said jaw.

Further according to a feature of the invention, to enable the adjustment of the relatively movable jaw, the rear end portion of the connecting rod may be provided with screw-threads and may be screwed into the tapped bore of a sleeve rotatably but non-displaceably mounted in the shank and handle assembly, the sleeve being provided with an operating knob.

According to a further feature of the invention, the sliding element is preferably in the form of a forked bracket the two legs of which embrace the relatively movable jaw and are provided with inwardly projecting ribs engaged in inclined grooves formed in the lateral surfaces of said jaw, or vice versa.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described more fully, by way of example, reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l illustrates the tool in side view and partly in longitudinal section with portions broken away.

Fig. 2 shows the socket end portion of the tool in side view at right angles to that of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a part-longitudinal section through the socket end portion of the tool as seen in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a front end view of the socket-forming jaws of the tool.

Referring now to the drawings more specically, the socket Spanner illustrated therein comprises a cylindrical shank 1 having a handle 2, the front end portion of said shank being conically enlarged and integrally formed at one side thereof with relatively stationary or xed jaw 3. Immediately to the rear of the latter there is formed in 2,796,791 Patented June 25, 1957 ICC the enlarged portion of the shank a transversely throughgoing recess for the reception of the inner portion of the transversely displaceable jaw 14, said jaw portion being provided, in a manner known per se, with spaced-parallel ribs 15 extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the Spanner and serving for guiding the same in corresponding grooves made in the lateral surfaces of said recess.

The shank 1 has a centrally disposed axially extending bore 8 opening at its rear end into the handle 2 and at its front end into the above-mentioned recess. Inserted in the handle 2 is a bushing 5 having rotatably but non-displaceably mounted therein a sleeve provided at its projecting extreme end with a turning knob 4. The sleeve is internally screw-threaded and screwed into the same with its correspondingly screw-threaded rear end portion is a connecting rod 7 which is received in the bore S as to be axially displaceable therein, this rod 7 being provided at its opposite end with a square-sectional sliding member 9 movable in a corresponding guide 10 opening into the abovementioned recess with said sliding member 9 projecting into this recess. The sliding member 9 is formed as a bracket or fork the two legs of which, 9a, 9b, embrace the adjacent edges of the relatively displaceable jaw 14 and are formed with spaced-parallel inclined ribs which engages corresponding grooves 11 formed in the lateral surfaces of the jaw 14, the bottom end ofthe jaw 14 forming, as seen in cross-Section, a head 13 adapted to slide in engagement with a wider groove 12 behind the ribs formed on the bracket legs 9a, 9b respectively.

In operation, by manually turning the knob 4 there Will be obtained in an extremely simple manner an axial displacement of the connecting rod 7, causing the displaceable one of the two socket-forming jaws, 14, to be adjusted towards or away from the relatively lixed jaw 3. The movable operating members of the adjustment device are completely encased within the tool-body proper and thus are satisfactorily protected against damage.

What is claimed is:

l. An adjustable socket Spanner comprising a shank having an operating handle at one end and a socket for gripping nuts and the like at its opposite end, said socket being formed by a stationary jaw and a movable jaw transversely displaceably mounted thereon for altering the opening between said jaws, an operating rod for moving said movable jaw and mounted for longitudinal, nonrotative movement in a bore provided in said shank, that end of the operating rod adjacent the socket end of the Spanner being in the form of a forked bracket having a pair of similarly shaped legs embracing lateral Surfaces of said movable jaw, said legs and the lateral Surfaces of the movable jaw being provided with interengaging, inclined ribs and grooves.

2. An adjustable socket Spanner in accordance with claim 1, in which the bracket legs are provided with inwardly projecting inclined ribs and the lateral surfaces of the movable jaw are provided with complementary inclined grooves.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS v 122,787 Taft Jan. 16, 1872 1,063,314 Anderson June 3, 1913 1,561,812 White NOV. 17, 1925 2,648,244 Alemany Aug. 11, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 25,372 Great Britain of 1905 619,826 Great Britain Mar. 15, 1949 

